What is the best Gibson acoustic guitar?

For a rich full sound, no Gibson does it better than the J-200. The maple body gives it a bright sound, and the jumbo size makes it loud and full. Elvis and Emmy-Lou Harris played them. When I was shopping for an acoustic, that was one of my top choices. Any decent guitar can be adjusted to have easy action but each has it's own voice. For me, it was a close affair, but after trying a lot of Gibsons, Martins and Taylors, I ended up buying a Martin D-35.

I first learned on an LG-3 Gibson parlor acoustic and, for 10 years or so, purchased other Gibsons during my Army career. I bought a 1976 J45/50 Gibson acoustic and used that for about 25 years and it has good projection, but none of them compares with the HD-35 Martin I play regularly. Gibsons are traditionally the acoustic for many Country singers, but Martins have crept in and stayed too.

The J-200 is perhaps the best in volume and projection in the Gibson line, but the traditional J-45 has great qualities for the songwriter and singer as well.

You'll simply have to play as many acoustics in the Gibson line as you can and make your own decision.

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RE:

What is the best Gibson acoustic guitar?

I'm aware of the Hummingbird, the Dove, and the Doves in Flight acoustic guitars. What I'm looking for is a guitar that projects a rich full sound and has easy action, and all the guitars I've listed above have these qualities. If you've played them, or know of others i...

Hello there,

The Dove is a fantastic guitar. It has a great sound, perhaps better than the Hummingbird. But the Hummingbird has been my favorite for decades. I simply love that guitar. I have not played the new ones, so I don't know how they compare to the vintage Hummingbirds. I have never played a Doves in Flight, never even seen one.

I am probably old school in my thinking, but I prefer the sound of the vintage (60s and 70s) Gibsons. They have a more mellow tone in my opinion. Easy action is a matter of how the guitar is set up. A good tech can fine tune it to suit your playing style.

Later,

My personal favorite is a 60s era Hummingbird--can't say I've played anything newer that I like as well. And that brings me to my next point--before I lay out $2000 plus for a guitar I'm going to hold it in my hands and play it. There are several Hummingbird models currently available--you may prefer one over the other. If you play a dozen different "identical" Hummingbirds you will probably find that you like one more than the others. The last time I bought a mandolin I went to the Gibson shop in Nashville and played 20 different mandolins until I found one I liked. I have only purchased one professional instrument sight unseen and must say I was terribly disappointed--ended up trading it off and buying something else that I played before I paid.

To specifically answer your question--the one that I think is best is the one you think is best after you've tried them all out.

Gibson Doves In Flight

Excellent answers here. I would add finding a guitar that fits your hand and style. I currently own some high end Martin acoustics that are suited for fingerpicking. All are Rosewood b/s and are 12 fret axes. Looking for a 14fret Gibson that is suited for flat picking. Hummingbird and J-200 have my attention.

I think with most Guitar makers they have the price vs. quality thing really down pat. The more you pay, likely the better sound you will get, at least up to a point where they start doing lots of inlay work or something. But, yes, the Hummingbird is nice, better than the Dove. Not sure why.